Star Trek: UFS Arcadia
Star Trek: Arcadia is an ongoing saga of life in the late 24th century Star Trek universe, centering around characters on the [[UFS Arcadia|United Federation Starship Arcadia]], written entirely online. The story is basically a "round robin", interactively composed by various contributors writing chapters showcasing unique characters in dramatic situations, sent via email to a common mailing list. Inspired by , and , Arcadia began in September 2001, with a Star Trek timeframe of 2378. The series jumped three years, from 2382 to 2385, in 2004. Unlike many similar venues, it maintains chronological progression matching real-time passage, in a manner similar to that adopted by various Star Trek series productions. Thus, a year from now will be a year later in the fiction world. Arcadia takes a serious approach to fan-fiction. More than a "sim" or "RPG", it relies on plot, quality writing, character motivation, and extrapolations of scientific possibility, from both traditional Star Trek and science-fiction staples, to paint a realistic picture of Star Trek's future, in the sense that the Star Trek world is "real" to characters in this universe. Given today's rapid acceleration of technological development and scientific understanding, and owing to human ingenuity, Arcadia portrays a 24th century more advanced and enlightened than that commonly accepted by Star Trek fans, as seen on The Next Generation, or Voyager. In this sense Arcadia's continuity differs to varying degrees compared to other fan-fiction forums. Part of the venue's "mission" is to highlight the positive aspects of the utopian future envisioned by Gene Roddenberry. Arcadia's exploits have taken the ship and her crew on diverse adventures to many exotic, distant locales, including other times, while examining important topics such as politics, religion and philosophy. Continuity Arguably, all of Star Trek: Arcadia takes place in an alternate timeline, possibly a parallel universe. Since its inception, many events and details in Arcadia continuity have differed from "mainstream" Star Trek continuity, becoming increasingly divergent since 2378, such as the introduction of quantum slipstream drive on Federation starships, a wormhole network and subspace transporters. From a real-life, "behind-the-scenes" perspective, there have been three different Arcadia continuities. The first lasted from September to October 2001, marked by little serious involvement, on a mailing list which has since been discontinued. The second began in November 2001 with a switch to a mailing list at Yahoo! Groups, which continues to operate. On this list, in-story continuity ran from 2378 to 2380. In May 2003, a revised in-story reality was developed, continuing from 2380 in a "new" continuum, marked by a more serious approach to writing and another switch to a new mailing list. In April 2005, this list-site was revamped as the Star Trek: Cadre mailing list and the old picked up again, continuing Arcadia's adventures in the same (revised) continuity. Many characters have come and gone in this setting. The longest running was Stephen April, from November 2001 to July 2007. Technology Transporters Subspace transporter In , transporters were improved by 2385 with the addition of stable quantum transporter and Rutian folded-space transport components. This greatly accelerated the dematerialization/rematerialization process, with the cumulative effect that transporters worked more like instant teleportation devices. Operating in tandem with the artificial wormhole network enabled subjects to beam theoretically anywhere in the known galaxy, over long distances, via subspace. This system became loosely known as "subspace transporters" or, much more loosely, the "universal transporter". See also *[[:Category:Star Trek: Arcadia characters| Star Trek: Arcadia characters]] * External links *[http://arcadia2412.blogspot.com/ Star Trek: Arcadia ''website] (Updates on Arcadia articles & characters can be found there.) *''Star Trek: Arcadia ''Yahoo Group Arcadia Category:Star Trek: Arcadia